For at least a thousand years, the ability to brew beer in excess of local needs and ship it off to distant drinkers has been a valued source of both prestige and cash. Beer is a serious claim to fame in the otherwise unexceptional towns of Burton-on-Trent and Pilsen.

It’s ninety-eight in the shade and the sun is beating down with the heat of a freshly made TIG weld. The blue smoke of small engines chokes the air. Thirst rules. The barley wine can wait until the first snowfall. Forget sipping. I need something to quaff!

What’s black and white and beer all over? It could only be a dark witbier. It’s a lip-smacking sundae of a drink: soft and creamy, overlain by a gentle cocoa roastiness, topped off with the fruity complexity of a Belgian yeast strain. It is profound and fascinating, but at around 6.5 percent alcohol, it won’t... View Article

Picture yourself living in a pre-industrial Northern Europe. You and the rest of the village have toiled through a long, hot summer in the fields drinking screechy small beers and the last precious remnants of the March beer. Eventually, the new barley is ready to harvest, but you still have to wait for its long... View Article

It must be something about the Reinheitsgebot. This ancient and hallowed document, scribed onto goatskin, the symbol of all that is Germanic brewing, has intimidated us all into keeping to the straight and narrow—even though it technically doesn’t even apply to Germans themselves anymore. While we Americans seem willing to twist venerable British styles into... View Article

A few years back, red ales were iconic for the industrial breweries’ first ham-handed attempts to grab a piece of craft beer glory. Consciously or not, craft brewers have since taken red ale to a place they know the big brewers won’t follow: into the land of juiced-up, over-hopped ales of no small gravity. Here’s... View Article